Chapter 12
I looked down at the two other Pokemon I had.
Linoone or Mightyena? I asked myself in my head. It doesn’t matter! I concluded, throwing out a random Pokeball.
Out of the red and white sphere emerged my blacked furred friend, Mightyena, with a strong look of anxiousness to battle on his face.
“Good choice,” LJ said. “If he’s anything like he was as a Poochyena, this should be a great battle.”
“Oh, he’s BETTER,” I confidently retorted.
“Let’s just see about that,” LJ turned to his Flaaffy. “Flaaffy, use Take Down!”
Flaaffy bent forward and began to charge at Mightyena head first.
“Mightyena, dodge, and counter with Snarl!”
Mightyena jumped straight over the Sheep Pokemon, and opened his mouth. He began to growl, and then shot a purple sound wave at his opponent. The attack hit Flaaffy directly, and threw it back a few feet.
‘Flaaffy, get back up and use Cotton Spore!”
Flaaffy picked itself up, and the wool on its head and neck began to grow green. It then took a step in Mightyena’s direction, and the wool started to detach and float towards Mightyena. When it touched Mightyena, it stayed on his fur for a few seconds, then dissolved. Mightyena began to glow with the same red glow as Zubat and Swablu did.
“Mightyena, use Fire Fang!”
He started to sluggishly strut towards Flaaffy.
“What?” I said, astonished.
“Cotton Spore lowers the Speed of the Pokemon it is used on,” He said smugly. “You’re welcome.”
I was about to command a new attack but, suddenly, Mightyena perked up like a Patrat and sat down, completely losing its look of competitiveness. I knew that something important was going on.
“Everybody STOP!” I yelled out. My siblings and friend and all their Pokemon stopped battling and looked straight at me.
“Mightyena hears something!” I explained. “Something’s going down.”
Out of nowhere, Liam’s Growlithe did the same as Mightyena.
We wait in silence for about 10 seconds, when we hear it too. A police siren blasts through the air. After a couple more seconds, a blue and white Agtosu Police Department car rounded my street corner, and pulled up in front of where we were battling. Two officers emerged from the vehicle. One was a forty-something year old man, who looked like a veteran cop. He had short brown hair that just poked out from under his hat. The other, a rookie police officer, came out of the passenger door. He looked to be in his early twenties, with decently long blonde hair.
“You kids need to go inside. NOW.” The older officer said. His name tag read his last name, Keegan.
“May I ask why, officer?” Liam quizzingly asked.
Officer Keegan sighed and looked to his partner. The young man stepped forward.
“The nearby Fighting Dojo has been robbed. The perp was said to be a teenager, not much older than you kid,” he said, pointing at me. “The senseis at the Dojo said he was armed.”
“Whoa,” I said aloud. “Wh- what did he take?”
“He just took a Pokemon. A Tyrogue, to be exact. The Dojo uses them to train their students.”
“Now you HAVE to get inside.” Keegan said. “If you have any further questions, turn on the news.” He turned to his partner. “Let’s roll, O’Neil.”
As we walked inside to my house, the two officers drove away, to warn more civilians.
“Mom, Dad! Turn on the news!” Ciara yelled out to my parents.
We walked into the TV room, where my parents were sitting. After a thorough search for the TV remote, my mom switched it to Channel 6 news.
“A normal day of training in Agtosu’s Fighting Dojo turned hectic today when a teenage boy held them up today,” The newswoman blabbed. “The boy bluffed carrying a weapon by using a water pistol. He stole a Tyrogue, and then fled the scene. Here is an artist rendition of the boy.”
As she said that, a picture of a familiar face appeared on the screen. When I saw it, my heart almost stopped. I looked at Ciara, and she looked back at me.
“I know that kid!” I screamed out. “That’s the thug that tried to steal Ciara’s Pokemon!”
Everybody in the room went speechless.
“You have to tell the police!” LJ exclaimed.
“No. That really won’t help. The police seem to be doing a good job on their own," my dad replied. "Let's just get our minds off of it."
He switched the channel to a documentary about the Unova region. It was actually really interesting! You see, Unova has always been a region with its own set of unique Pokemon. Pokemon from other regions are few and rare. But, in the last two years, the Unova League has grown in popularity. Trainers worldwide have started traveling to Unova to take it on. And along with them, they bring their Pokemon. The problem is, once they are there, they keep getting defeated by the Champion, Alder. But real Trainers don’t back down. They stay there for as long as it takes. So these trainers stay there for years. And while they are training, their Pokemon meet others of their species and kind of.... mass reproduce. So Unova has all these strong Pokemon being brought over, like Aggron, Flygon, Arcanine, and Lucario, and their young are now settling throughout Unova. In places like the Desert Resort, Trapinch and Sandshrew are now mixed in with the native Pokemon like Dwebble and Maractus. I found it pretty cool.
After the documentary ended, I turned to my family (and Liam) and asked the question that’s been racing through my mind the whole day.
“So, I am going on my journey tomorrow...,” I started awkwardly. “Where should I go first?”
“Well, Conor, with this whole news story, I am not too comfortable with you going on your journey alone,” my dad said sternly
My heart broke. I looked around the room. You could see the shock on everybody’s faces, except Liam, who was texting away on his cell phone.
I was speechless. I didn’t know how to respond.
“I mean, why don’t you just come and intern with me at the Pokemon League?” my father offered.
“I don’t want to intern at the Pokemon League!” I snapped back. “I want to go on my journey!”
The whole room went silent, when suddenly, a pre-recorded bark of a Growlithe filled the soundless room. It was Liam’s ringtone.
“Uhh... Mike, my parents okayed me going on the journey with Conor.”
My face began to glow with happiness. I knew that my dad had the utmost respect for Liam’s father. A former firefighter, he has since used his Water type Pokemon to claim himself a permanent spot in the Elite Four, working alongside my dad. His Blastoise’s Hydro Cannon could even do a good deal of damage on Arceus himself, my father tells me.
My dad sat in silence for a minute.
“Two people? I mean, getting a third would be better...”
“I’ll go,” LJ said quietly from the corner. “I really want to take on the gyms...”
Again, my father sat without uttering a word.
“I’ll okay it,” he said. “But you HAVE to promise to be safe, and NOT get into any trouble.”
“Oh, I promise sir!” I said, filled with glee. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome Conor. As to where you should go first, I’d say to go to Uirbeacha City. It’s the biggest city in all of Rentoh. I’m pretty certain that the gym leader is new. I just don’t know what type they specialize in.”
“That doesn’t matter to me!” I cried out.
“There are a few dozen gyms in all of Rentoh,” he explained. “You only have to win at eight of them, and you already have one badge. Seven more to go.”
“Yes sir!” I said, so excited I felt like I was about to explode like a Voltorb.
“Oh, and also, when you get to Uirbeacha, be sure to visit Professor Cedar. He’s an old acquaintance of mine. He will also store any Pokemon you don’t have room for in your party at his laboratory.”
“Will do Dad!” I said, hugging him tight.
“Now you should go to sleep. You have a big journey ahead of you tomorrow.”
We walked Liam home, talking about the adventures that await us, and then walked home, got into bed, and fell right asleep.
To be continued...
Current Teams:
Conor: ;264; ;262; ;198;
Ciara: ;231; ;278; ;406;
Liam: ;333; ;058;
LJ: ;328; ;041; ;180;